Tuesday, October 28, 2008

We're going heavy on the vampires this week. Hey, it is Halloween after all!!

Although more well-known, Captain America (who debuted in CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #1 [March 1941]) was not the first American flag-themed hero. The Shield beat him by 14 months!

The Shield first appeared in PEP COMICS #1 (January 1940) and stayed there through issue #65 (January 1948), at which point it changed to an all-humor title. He also starred in SHIELD-WIZARD COMICS #1-13 (Summer 1940-Spring 1944). He was created by writer Harry Shorten and artist Irv Novick.

This story has all kinds of weirdness in it:The last time we see Dusty (page 8), he's lying seemingly unconscious on the roof as the Shield takes off to fight the count.Mamie mentions her boyfriend, Ju Ju, to the count a few times, but never says his last name. Yet, on page 10, the count refers to him as Ju Ju Watson.On page 12, Shield asks Ju Ju if the guy Mamie is with is wearing a cape. Ju Ju says yes, but at no point in the story does the count ever have on a cape.When the Shield finally gets back home on the last page, he doesn't seem at all concerned about Dusty's state of health, who was unconscious the last time he saw him. Not too mention that Dusty, after waking up, decides not to track down the Shield and help him, instead opting to change into his pjs and wait for the Shield's return. Dusty then has the nerve to ask him "what happened?" The Shield's reply should've been, "Where the hell were you, you little bastard!?""Burn up that book on vampires you were reading!" The Shield is apparently Republican.